In an incident that is now being heralded online with the hashtag #speakergate, Minus label head Richie Hawtin has come under criticism in the press for pushing one of his monitors onto a fan during a recent set at Time Warp.
In the video, a fan stands next to the DJ booth filming Richie doing his thing. Around 0.40 we see Richie make a concerted effort to push the monitor towards the girl, who defiantly keeps filming until the monitor smacks her straight in the chest. They do say you should never meet your heroes. Personally, we’d love to see her footage of the event!
As the debate rages on about those pesky, perpetual iPhone wielders at events, we generally sit on the side of watching the real thing with our own two eyes as opposed to rigorously observing a performance through our phone screens. However, we are aware of a significant proportion of clubbers who assumedly take some comfort in the latter. Perhaps in these bleak economic times they are looking to get a bit more bang for their buck (those entrance fees can get pricey), or possibly they’re just in a very unhealthy relationship with their smartphone (let’s be honest – in varying degrees, most of us are).
Anyway, Richie Hawtin has issued an apology via his Facebook page:
“I was as surprised as I’m sure she was when it moved the way it did and the top speaker fell off of the stack. For that, I’m extremely sorry and embarrassed about what happened. This was never my intention.
“Sometimes being in the middle of the spotlight, continual cameras and glaring iPhone lights, things can get stressful and frustrating. I’m sorry that this frustration took an unexpected turn and took away from anyone’s experience of Time Warp.”
If you haven’t already, check the video below and see what you make of it for yourself.
@geena_pellant
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